Altara's Scepter
Altara's Scepter is a magical artifact which may be used to sever lines of magical power. It appears in Ultima Underworld II and Ultima IX.
Description[edit]
The sorceress Altara sought to assist the Avatar in dismantling the blackrock dome enclosing Castle Britannia by manufacturing this wand. To create it, she required that the hero bring her the egg casing of a dread spider and an amethyst rod, which she combined with a specially prepared black pearl she had already altered to suit her needs.[1]
Once complete, the scepter prevented the Guardian from drawing power from the various sites across the planes where he had invoked great magics before, which weakened his ability to maintain the spell imprisoning Lord British's castle. The Avatar used it eight times: at Bishop's prison cell in Tarna; in the engine room of Killorn Keep; at the great fountain of Anodunos; in the Bliy Skup Ductosnore's chambers in Talorus; by the great pentagram of the Scintillus Academy; at the entrance to the Pits of Carnage; at the site of a magical cave in within Praecor Loth's tomb and at the Shrine of Spirituality within the Void. Once this was complete, the powers which fueled the structure of the dome were severely weakened, and the Avatar was eventually able to shatter it using the Horn of Praecor Loth.
Later, the scepter featured amongst the exhibits of Britain's Royal Museum, standing testament to this crisis in Britannian history and its eventual resolution.
Trivia[edit]
- The appearance of the scepter in Ultima IX is completely different from Ultima Underworld II. This is especially noticeable, due to the fact that the black pearl and amethyst rod are separately collected and even clearly visible as components in the final scepter.
- The cover art for Ultima Underworld II likely reflects the intended design of the artifact, which was simplified in-game due to the technical limitations of contemporary sprite rendering.
- The clue book calls it a "scepter", Altara calls it a "sceptre", and The Avatar calls it a "pearl-tipped rod of Altara".
Gallery[edit]
The scepter seemingly used in the Ultima Underworld II cover art
